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More and more of our customers are finding patterned carpet sexy. This look has come a long way from its earliest incarnation which was a kind of organic blob. Today’s patterned carpet is made from cut and loop fibers and the array of patterns just keeps increasing. Trellises, florals, and modern geometrics make a splash underfoot and can change the look of a room by adding texture and subtle interest to the eye.

It’s not just pattern in one color, either – many looks feature more than one color which gives the effect of a wall to wall rug. To make patterned carpet even more luxurious, improvements in carpet pads have increased the comfort level to a sink to your knees feel. Ask us about the latest carpet patterns today – we’ve got lots of great examples in the showroom to show off!

Noblesse is Mohawk’s luxury vinyl tile in laminate form. Laminates have evolved from a fiber core to 100% Virgin Vinyl. No more peaking/buckling due to water or moisture, and the look completely fools the eye. Looks like stone, acts like stone. And when grouted, it’s virtually indistinguishable from the beauty of stone tile at a fraction of the price. Or, don’t grout it and lay it close for a concrete look – an uninterrupted expanse of luxury vinyl is simply stunning.

Plus Noblesse’s temperature is warm underfoot, a great benefit in cold Chicago weather. Try Noblesse is any area where you’d choose stone and without the water issue, you can safely use it in baths and kitchens.

There are so many interesting ways to pattern tile beyond the basic 12×12 checkerboard. To give your room a designer look, consider something that will add pattern and interest to your tile floor. You can herringbone your floor or do a basket weave. It’s not just floor tile, these patterns work for backsplashes and bathrooms, too.

We love them but those little claws and nails can do a number on floors from carpeting to hardwood. Not to mention those unexpected accidents and puddles. How do you protect your flooring from the beloved pet? Short of wearing booties, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Give Them a Protective Layer

Rugs are a great way to protect your investment from the tiny scrapings that toenails cause on hardwood. But you don’t want that antique kilim to be damaged either! Consider using natural fibers like jute and sisal in high traffic areas. Durable and relatively cheap to replace, these rugs can be taken outside and shaken to clean.

Trim Toes

Keeping your dog’s nails trimmed will go a long way toward reducing inevitable scratching. Cats often like to scratch carpet and clipping their claws and providing a scratching post will help neutralize the urge.

Corral Food and Water

Choose a water friendly room to keep your pet’s dinner area spic and span. Water slopping onto hardwood and bits of meaty bits and gravy can do a number on sensitive flooring. Put a mat down underneath food and water bowls to help contain spills.

Use Mats

Mats at the front and back door where pets enter and exit are a must to help stop paws from tracking dirt inside.

Choose Flooring Wisely

For pet friendly carpet, nothing beats carpet tiles because of their ease of replacement. When boo-boos happen, pop one out and another one in. Some treated tiles are so stain resistant you can even take them out to clean under running water.

Vinyl tile in plank form mimics the look of hardwood without the price tag. These tiles can also be switched out easily if need be. Because of their excellent moisture resistance they’re ideal in kitchens where many accidents happen.

Best bets in flooring are bamboo which is very hard and scratch resistant, and stone and porcelain tile which don’t scratch and clean up easily. Hardwood is the least forgiving material for pets as urine can stain your floors and it’s susceptible to scratching and marks. If you do have hardwood and pets, monitor the floors for pet deposits of all kinds and stay on top of them. Left untended, stains can seep into the wood and cause it to warp or discolor.

It used to be that you wanted a hardwood look so you chose from wood or laminate. But no more! Mohawk’s new luxury vinyl tile “Noblesse” with the look of wood and the added benefit of being waterproof is making a big mark in decor everywhere. Its planked sheets have a special UniClic technology that makes them easy to install. Entirely glueless, the system installs over a variety of subfloors, eliminating the need to rip out old flooring. Great for residential or commercial installations, its number one benefit is its affordability in comparison with hardwood or laminate, and its fool-the-eye look is really indistinguishable from wood.

Soft underfoot, Mohawk’s luxury tile makes standing in a kitchen easy on the legs and feet. And speaking of legs and feet, cats and dogs will have a hard time destroying this floor. Their claws and muddy paws are no match for vinyl tile which continues to look great year after year. Vinyl tile resists mud and footprints, making it ideal for high traffic areas.

Did we mention its basically waterproof? Perfect for kitchens, baths and laundry rooms where worry of an accident or overflow can dim your enthusiasm for wood. It’s also impervious to weather changes and remains the same temperature year round underfoot.

Best of all, the look is really sharp. It’s chic, moneywise and dynamite for any decor. Take a look at the finishes available:

Flooring Protection MaximizedMohawk floors has introduced a new production that takes hardwood to a whole new level. We all love the look of beautiful shining wood, but life’s little stains and scrapes can take a toll on it. Enter ArmorMax(TM) Finish Technology, a protective coating combined with Scotchguard(TM) Advanced Repel Technology, a one-two punch that seals your floor from the elements and human abrasions that can dim the look of your floors. They’re not messing around, this finish has a 50 year warranty!

Top Ways ArmorMax will help your floors:

Tested against other top extended wear finishes and found to be 5 times more resistant

Here’s a bold floor that looks fantastic. Floors can make a huge statement in a room and color adds an entirely new design vibe. Come in and browse the hardwood and laminate colors we offer, you may find you fall in love with a color statement.

After spring cleaning your baseboards, swiffering and polishing, the onslaught of wild Chicago area weather can do a number on your flooring. In between tornado warnings and scrambling for the basement, we get flash storms that wet the yard and track inside. Pollen, dust and yard debris come in on tennis shoes and dogs leave muddy footprints. A properly installed wood floor will stand up to a lot of outside dirt, it just takes cleaning, but tile can hide a multitude of sins by stone or stone look prints.

And consider creating a mudroom. The classic mudroom with a tile floor is great for foul weather and today people are carving small mudrooms out of unused hall closets. Just remove the door, add a bench and bins for shoes and you’re in business. If you were planning to do new flooring, consider tile with a cute closet mudroom to repurpose space that would otherwise go to waste!

Can you imagine your toes sliding along a leather floor? Get ready, there are now tiles made from leather that weather all life’s little indignities, spills and scratches, by looking even more beautiful over time and acquiring a rich patina. Leather is warm underfoot and feels cushioned, and comes in a wide variety of tones to suit any look from traditional to modern and eclectic.

Another fun product is made from recycled alcohol bottles so that the gin from your last party really can wind up on the floor. Made by Trend USA, Trend Q tiles are up to 70% recycled content and come in a variety of colors, including a new organic-inspired palette. Just about impervious to anything, it’s heat, scratch and stain resistant and comes in both standard 12×12 and custom tile sizes.

Sustainable flooring is not just a trend, it’s a tidal wave. While wood has always been the go-to sustainable material, it’s got cork and bamboo as hot new alternatives. Both offer a fresh take on rooms and have a modern sensibility. Cork can take on a look of wood plank or stone depending on how it’s manufactured and is easy on the feet with its natural cushioning.

Cork comes in a multitude of colors, from fashion forward to natural inspired. It’s probably the most sustainable product of all because cork floors are made by peeling the cork off the tree; no trees are harmed in the making of this product – they simply grow more cork. Because cork is a natural material, it’s great for people who want to keep synthetics to a minimum but are looking for a more interesting flooring choice. As for pricing, cork can be more affordable than wood or even laminate but luxury cork finishes will cost about the same.

Bamboo floors offer the look of wood and are produced by harvesting shoots of bamboo which then regrows. Earlier bamboo could be a bit soft and wasn’t the best choice for high traffic areas but new styles of bamboo are engineered to be twice as strong as oak by a weaving process where strands of bamboo are hardened with resin. Hardy and durable, bamboo offers a huge array of colors and textures, many of which look like wood grain. Bamboo pricing is similar to hardwood but check around to see if you can find a deal; there are many out there as bamboo has gone mainstream.

Other sustainable flooring options are reclaimed hardwood – or wood which comes from another dwelling or structure. It’s prized for its patina and aged, lived-in look. There’s also engineered floor (laminates) that are now made with recycled content. You could also choose linoleum which is not petroleum based like vinyl, but made from linseed oil. Linoleum gets a bad reputation from its history of flooring industrial and school buildings in the 40s and 50s, but today’s linoleum offers great looking styles and colors and it’s just as easy to install as it ever was. In the soft floor category, you can go with wool carpeting which is not only renewable but fabulous underfoot and very durable.